ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)’s stock price dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $645.45 and last traded at $653.10. Approximately 579,732 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 1,439,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $662.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on ASML from $1,000.00 to $790.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of ASML from $1,300.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of ASML to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of ASML from $1,207.00 to $1,148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut ASML from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ASML presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $970.60.

ASML Stock Up 1.8 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $747.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $875.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.51.

ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The semiconductor company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.24 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.66 billion. ASML had a return on equity of 47.61% and a net margin of 26.40%. As a group, research analysts expect that ASML Holding will post 20.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ASML Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were issued a $1.407 dividend. This represents a $5.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. ASML’s dividend payout ratio is 29.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ASML

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASML. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ASML by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,186,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,654,921,000 after buying an additional 31,879 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in ASML by 3.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 2,226,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,855,624,000 after acquiring an additional 70,776 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of ASML by 37.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,757,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,464,061,000 after acquiring an additional 474,653 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of ASML by 18.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,220,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,184,173,000 after acquiring an additional 194,357 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of ASML by 4,379.6% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 889,875 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $910,102,000 after purchasing an additional 870,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.07% of the company’s stock.

About ASML

ASML Holding N.V. develops, produces, markets, sells, and services advanced semiconductor equipment systems for chipmakers. It offers advanced semiconductor equipment systems, including lithography, metrology, and inspection systems. The company also provides extreme ultraviolet lithography systems; and deep ultraviolet lithography systems comprising immersion and dry lithography solutions to manufacture various range of semiconductor nodes and technologies.